ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Tiger Woods relished the two days spent with his son, along with the chance to remind anyone watching he still has game. Some of the shots he hit during the PNC Championship did not belong to a ceremonial golfer.
Woods hasn’t lost his needle, either, as sharp as his short game.
The fifth fairway at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club Orlando was immaculate — except for a scorecard stuck into the grass next to the tee shot of Justin Thomas, which was some 15 yards behind where Woods had hit his drive.
On the card, a note that Woods wrote in cursive: “You’ve got mail.”
Padraig Harrington broke into laughter when he heard about this. The message takes on different meaning to different people — for the Irishman, it refers to being in a different postal code — but it translates to how far Woods blew it by him.
“You don’t even have to write it down. We all know when somebody does that,” Harrington said. “He was airmailed.”
Small victories? Not really. Woods said in the Bahamas earlier this month, when he was reduced to being only the tournament host because of plantar fasciitis in his right foot, that he could still hit all the shots. The trouble was walking to them.
He was in a cart at the PNC Championship because the PGA Tour Champions runs the event and carts are allowed on the senior circuit. John Daly is about to have knee replacement and took a ride. So did David Duval, playing with a torn muscle in his calf.
The question is when Woods will play next on the PGA Tour. Not even he knows.
A year ago, when he was still recovering from broken bones in his right leg from a car crash in Los Angeles some 10 months earlier, his only hope was to play the British Open at St. Andrews. He wound up playing two other majors, making 2022 a success.
The speculation on his return will start in February for the Genesis Invitational at Riviera and continue until azaleas begin to bloom at Augusta National.
For now, everyone is left with predictions, always a dangerous game involving Woods. Remember, in a span of five years he had four surgeries on his lower back and had to deal with a DUI arrest stemming from a mix of painkillers. And then he won the Masters.
“You’d figure not a chance,” Matt Kuchar said. “He’s proven me wrong on multiple guesses of will he play again, will be win again, all of those. I’ve probably been proven wrong several times, and I’m a guy of the mindset you can never count him out.
“If there’s a chance — which you know there is a chance — he’s going to find it.”
Opinions vary widely. Last week alone, Colin Montgomerie doubted Woods could ever win again. He said Woods would have to return to a higher than ever standard of golf to be able to beat players 20 years younger than him and “I don’t see that happening.” A few days later, Harrington said he thought Woods can still win a major.
